Wednesday, 21 November 2012

Why was the partition of Bengal reversed in 1911? [7] (Past Paper, June 2001: Q3/b)

[Protests and Violence] The
partition of Bengal created a Muslim-majority province, the East Bengal. The
elite Hindus of West Bengal, who were collecting taxes from Muslim peasants in
east Bengal, would now lose their influence in the new province. They,
therefore, rejected the decision and launched a series of violent protests and
demonstrations against the partition. The tide of anger rapidly spread to other
parts of India. The reaction was so strong that it gave birth to the
development of extremism. A number of small extremist groups came into
existence that launched attacks on the British officials. They succeeded in
killing a few ones. Lord Minto, the future viceroy, escaped an assassination
attempt. Many extremists were imprisoned for long time, but the situation was
alarming to the British. Finally, they had to bow down before the Hindu
agitation and thus revoked the Bengal partition.

[Economic Reasons] The British
reversed the partition of Bengal due to economic reasons also. The Hindus of
West Bengal started Swadeshi Movement, which also spread to other parts of
India. It was a massive campaign for boycotting the British goods and using
home-made products. The Hindus responded to the movement enthusiastically. The
use of local products became a matter of pride. Foreign clothes were thrown on
bonfires. By 1908, imports from Britain had fallen off significantly and sales of
British goods in Indian markets dropped drastically. So the British had to
reverse the decision.

[British Measures Failed] The
British took several measures to bring the situation under control but
political unrest kept on growing. Restrictions were imposed on newspapers and
public gatherings. Editors were imprisoned. The prisons were filled with
revolutionary activists. Tilak was also arrested in June 1908 and put behind
the bars for 6 years. Apart from repressive measures, the British turned to
reconciliation also by introducing Morley-Minto reforms in 1909 to win support
of the Hindus, but the reforms also could not pacify them. The situation was becoming difficult
for peaceful administration and ultimately the British had to move towards
annulment of the partition.

Yes, you're supposed to somewhat agree with the statement. E.g, Were the geographical matters the most important in the partition of (let's say,)Bangladesh?

You can begin with Yes, it was an essential reason for the partition... (mention the points) and then you have to give the immediate reason in the second paragraph, i.e the war and other political reasons etc.

1. Vastness of Province: The Province was spread over the area of 1, 89, 000 square miles with the population of 80 million, which was too vast to be managed by one lieutenant Governor. He could not make a tour for the whole province due to its vastness once in his tenure.

2. Limited Sources of Communication: The sources of communication in the provinces were limited due to rivers and forests. The law and order condition of the provinces was also worst due to insufficient police and in-efficient management. Therefore the need of partition of province was felt severally.

3. Difference of Language: There was also the difference of Languages and civilization of the natives of West Bengal and East Bengal. The natives of West Bengal considered themselves superior in civilization to the resident of East Bengal. The Condition demanded for the division of Provinces.

4. Need of the time: The division of Bengal was the need of the time to develop trade in East Bengal and to promote the Port of Chittagong, which could be done only by division of the Provinces.

5. Partition: The Partition of Bengal was thus calculated to restore efficiency in the Government and administration on one hand and encouraged local initiatives for progress and development on the other. Lord Curzon partitioned Bengal and formed two new provinces of manageable size – East and West Bengal. East Bengal consisted of Dacca, Mamansingh, Assam, Kaula, Rangpur, and Bogra district, the Dacca was capital of East Bengal constituted a majority MuslimProvince, while the Bihar and Orissa constituted a separate province to be called as West Bengal with the capital of Calcutta and become the Hindu Majority provinces.